Switches and routers provide a broad set of troubleshooting tools and utilities such as, for example, ping, Layer 3 traceroute, Layer 2 traceroute, etc., that can be combined with the output of various commands to debug network connectivity problems.
However, debugging can become quite challenging for users who are not network specialists. Even for the most basic connectivity problems, it is necessary to go through a step by step process to validate the connectivity checks and isolate the problem.
A typical example of a connectivity problem is depicted in FIG. 1 where a client computer 10, coupled to a port of a Local Switch 12, is unable to connect to an end station host server 14 located on the network 16. Debugging the problem involves running utilities such as ping and traceroute from the client computer.
Ping is a utility to determine whether a specific Internet Protocol (IP) address is accessible. It works by sending a packet to the specified address and waiting for a reply. Ping is used primarily to troubleshoot network connections. Traceroute utilities work by sending packets with low time-to-live (TTL) fields. The TTL value specifies how many hops the packet is allowed before it is returned. When a packet can not reach its destination because the TTL value is too low, the last host returns the packet and identifies itself. By sending a series of packets and incrementing the TTL value with each successive packet, traceroute finds out who all the intermediary hosts are.
These troubleshooting tools and utilities must be initiated at the client's computer because the connectivity problem occurs somewhere along the path taken by packets between the client and end station host server. This requires that the network administrator (the “Admin”) be physically present at the client computer to run the tests or remotely connect with the user to guide her through performing the steps on the client computer.
Thus, either the user is diverted from other tasks in order to assist the Admin or the Admin must move from computer to computer to debug connectivity problems.
The challenges in the field of network administration continue to increase with demands for more and better techniques having greater flexibility and adaptability. Therefore, a need has arisen for a new system and method for debugging connectivity problems between a client computer and an end station host server connected to a network.